Christmas Present
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, days 1520, 1522, 1524, 1526: It's Will and Emma's first Christmas as husband and wife and for that they want to try and make it special. - Christmas Story 2 of 3
1. Our First Christmas

_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 72nd cycle. Now cycle 73!_

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**"Christmas Present"  
(Second of three four-part Christmas Stories)**

**1. Our First Christmas  
Will/Emma**

It wasn't their first Christmas together as a couple, but it was the first one they would spend together as husband and wife, and they had both agreed that it should be special in some way. Before they could do anything else however, they needed a tree. Will had wanted a real one, but he remembered the year before and, calling it 'a wise family investment,' they had gotten a fake but very majestic looking tree, which he set in the living room for them both to decorate.

"What are you doing?" Emma had called to him, spotting him standing there with his camera aimed at her. "I mean I know what you're doing, obviously, but…"

"We're making memories, aren't we?" he gave her a smile, and she returned it, getting a kiss for it.

"You know what will happen if I start doing this on my own. I will literally do it on my own and won't let you help. Not that I mind…"

"Alright," Will conceded, putting the camera down and reaching for a box of ornaments. "You can't tell me I'm doing it wrong," he warned, and she laughed.

All it had taken for Will to be allowed to use his camera again had been for him to get caught up in garlands and trip. Emma had first asked if he was alright and, when he had assured her that he was, she had gotten hold of the camera and taken a picture. After this, they had alternated taking snapshots so that, by the time they had finished decorating the tree, they had more than a dozen photos documenting their 'first married tree.'

"What do you think?" Will asked, taking a deep breath and letting it out again. He thought it couldn't have been more perfect. Emma observed the tree for a few seconds, nodding to herself. "Emma?"

"I think… I think it looks great," she told him with a smile.

"You want to change something, don't you?" he guessed, smirking.

"No, of course not," she frowned. "It's our tree, and we made it together, and…"

"Go ahead," he told her, and as much as she tried to keep herself from giving in, she ended up starting to pick at one ornament here and another there, until she had made several alterations. Will couldn't have argued with the result if he wanted to. The tree did look better, and she hadn't changed it so much that he couldn't see what he'd contributed to it.

"How's…" she started to ask, breathless.

"Perfect," he told her with a smile. "Stand there," he went and set the camera down, putting a timer so that he could hurry over to her side. Posed with smiles, one arm around the other, they had waited until the flash had gone before he went and took a look, while Emma blinked and rubbed at her eyes.

"I didn't close my eyes, did I? I always do that," she complained.

"You didn't. Look," he brought the camera back so she could see. When she did, she got her smile back, tapping his arm: she loved it, too. "What if we put that on a card? You know, 'Merry Christmas from Will and Emma,'" he suggested. "Or is that too…"

"I don't know, do you think we should?"

"Beautiful tree, beautiful you," Will looked at the picture. "Of course I think we should. You could even design it. It can't be too different from making a pamphlet, can it?"

"Oh, well…" she started getting into creative mode. "Can you send that to the computer?" she asked, already abandoning the emptied boxes of ornaments.

"Sure," he smiled to himself.

After he'd sent her the photo, he had watched her take a seat in front of the laptop and start to work on the card. While she did this, Will busied himself at gathering the empty boxes and putting them away, back where they had been stored. He had barely finished that Emma was calling for him to join her.

"What do you think?" she asked. He came around to look at the screen, and he realized he was almost crying but didn't care. What she had managed to put together in such little time was everything he could have pictured for their first Christmas card.

"I love it. I really do," he kissed the top of her head.

"I can send it to the store and they'll print the cards out for us," she showed him.

"Go for it."

"You know, it's not even Christmas yet and it already feels pretty special to me."

"I already have you, how much more special can things get?" he gave her a smile and she returned it.

When the cards had been printed and received, they already had a list ready, with the names and addresses of those they would be sending the cards to. Emma would write the messages inside the cards and sign her name, while Will wrote the addresses on the envelopes. When he would be handed a card, he would sign his name, too, before sticking the card in the envelope. Emma was very proud of their efficient little system, and when they were done, Will had taken the envelopes to be mailed.

They still had several days to go before the holiday itself, and in the meantime they still had plenty to do, between job things, Christmas dinner planning things, and of course, the shopping things. This would prove more than anything to have the potential for stress. As much as they had told themselves that they were enough, the two of them together, to make this special, the 's' word would be swirling over their heads, making them both try to figure out the best way to make this first Christmas together, first as husband and wife, be exactly that: special.

TO BE CONTINUED (SATURDAY)


	2. For Her

_A/N: So I had internet issues yesterday which kept me from posting the Friday chapter, and by the looks of the weather out here, there are strong chances I'll have trouble again, not just for my Saturday story but for my Sunday one, too. And because I'm just a tiny bit paranoid about it, **I'm about to post all three stories** (Friday and Sunday chapters of the Doctor Who/Glee crossover and Saturday chapter of Christmas Present). Knocking on wood here ;)_

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**"Christmas Present"**

**2. For Her**

Their schedules had been so busy in the weeks leading up to Christmas that they both realized, by accident and all at once, that neither of them had gone shopping for the other's presents yet. But in the end they had come up with a solution. They would just have to go on the same day, drive to the mall together, then split up and meet again when they were done.

"What if we run into each other?" Emma had pointed out.

"We'll have to make sure we don't," he gave her a smirk, and it was all she needed to get on board. "Don't worry yourself about it, take your time." He knew what the prospect of a crowded mall would do to her, and Christmas time was like three crowded malls rolled into one.

But Emma wasn't backing down, so on Saturday morning, bright and early, they'd made their way to the mall, where they kissed, wished each other good luck, and gone their separate ways.

The truth was he still didn't know what he wanted to get her. If he had known, he probably would have found the time to go to the mall before and buy it for her. He'd been thinking about it non-stop, looking around the house for any clue of what she might want or need, browsing online, leafing through catalogs… He wanted it to be good, better than good, and all he was doing was running in circles.

They'd come so far in just a year. First he had been away from her, and then there had been the wedding that wasn't, the incident with the gun… When they'd finally gotten married, he thought for sure this would be the turn they'd been waiting for, the sign that things would be better from then on, only after that… Finn… Life had taken its time getting back on track, but he knew if he hadn't had Emma by his side to support him, he might not have made it. He still couldn't help thinking about Carole Hudson. This Christmas would not be the same.

He couldn't let himself go there, not now. He had to think about what they'd come here for. This was for her, for Emma. He could hear her in his head, telling him that he didn't need to stress himself so much about this, that their being together was going to be just what she needed, and he would probably say the same. But this was one moment for them to treat each other to something, to make them feel thought of and appreciated, and he was going to do that for her.

His search was not going so well. Same as he'd been running in circles in the past few weeks, anything that he came up with, once he was faced with it, just didn't feel right, and he would end up putting it back. Then every so often he would run into some of his students, past and present, whether they had been in his Spanish class, or his History class, or in Glee Club.

"Are you shopping for Miss Pillsbury?" Marley had asked, when he'd run into her and her mother.

"I… yes," he admitted. "It's our first Christmas together as husband and wife and…"

"And you want to get her something special," Millie Rose guessed. "How's that going?"

"What does it look like?" he showed his empty hands.

"You'll think of something," Marley told him confidently.

"Don't think too hard. You're thinking about the presents and working back to her. If you think about her, then you'll work your way to the present," her mother added.

"You're right," Will admitted with a nod.

After the two of them had gone on their way, Will had taken a seat, to stop and to think, just as Millie Rose had suggested.

Finally, with his thoughts cleared, he'd stopped, and he'd smiled to himself. He would arrange two gifts. The first would be simple enough and would only require him to buy something. The second would take more effort, not by much, but enough that he would be able to surprise her and make her smile.

It was strange how exasperated one could be, shopping with no aim, and then as soon as you knew what to do, there was nothing to stop you. It was no more than a half hour before he had done his purchasing. When he called Emma, she told him that it might be several hours more before she was done. That was his chance. He told her that he needed to go to another store, outside the mall, and that he would be back to pick her up later.

After he'd hung up, Will had left the mall, putting the bags in the car and making his way over to McKinley High. It was dark and empty and, thankfully, free of interference from one cheerleading coach turned principal. He was able to get first into the school and then into Emma's office. He needed one more thing for his second present, and this was where he would find it. When he had it, he made sure the office was as tidy as he'd found it, locked the door again, then decided to use the choir room to complete the assembly of present number two.

When he was done, he stood back and looked at the finished product. It was even better than what he'd imagined. He left it in his office, the better to retrieve it later, so she wouldn't know about it.

He returned to the mall now, giving her a call. To his surprise, he learned she was done after all. She was sitting by the fountain, keeping a bag shut on her knees. She had brought the bag from home, saying it was both more environmentally friendly and it would keep him from getting any clues as to what she had gotten him and where.

"All done?" he asked her.

"All done. Let's get out of here."

TO BE CONTINUED (MONDAY)


	3. For Him

**"Christmas Present"**

**3. For Him**

She'd had some ideas already as to what she wanted to get him, that wasn't the problem. All she had to do was to decide and go get it. But then there was the mall. She wasn't the way she used to be, she had gotten better. That didn't mean she was going to be looking forward to an overcrowded mall full of people who had left their sanity at the door. She had briefly considered going the online order route, but when it came down to it, she needed to be able to see the thing before she decided that she would get it for him. So just as she'd done in previous years, she was going to have to gather up her courage and go for it.

When Will had suggested for them to go together – together but separate, of course – she had hesitated for a moment and then decided it might be the best option after all. Knowing he was out there and she had to be careful for him not to see what she'd get him, she would be able to focus on that much more than on the people around her. That was the theory at least. She still didn't know how it would actually turn out.

Saturday morning, he had driven them both to the mall. Emma had been quiet during the ride, looking at her list, thinking. She really was better than she'd been before, and she decided that this year would be a mark of that progress. Maybe she could even use what Will would rightly imagine her time in the mall to be like to her advantage. For all they knew, she might actually finish before he did.

They had arrived, and finding a parking space had already given them some idea of what this day might end up being like. On two separate occasions they'd nearly had a collision with a car trying to hurry into a spot before them. But finally they made it into the mall, wished each other luck, and separated.

There really were a lot of people, and as much as she'd try to prepare herself for it, every year, it would always be the same that, once she did see how many people there were, she'd feel a bit of panic rising in her. This year though, she had a plan, and with that plan in mind, she'd nodded to herself and moved on. That was how she'd ended up coming across his first present.

It wasn't at all something she'd planned for, but after sidestepping a woman ushering three children toward Santa's village, each of them going on about what they would say to Santa or ask Santa, Emma had found herself standing in front of a store window, and right there, she saw it and smiled instantly. It was a tiny bit silly, but at the same time she thought it would be the perfect thing to get him. So she'd walked into the store and bought it. She felt so happy with herself that the rest of the day didn't seem so bad.

Maybe in the future she would do her Christmas shopping earlier in the year. As far as this year went, there had definitely been times when she couldn't have known whether or not she'd be looking to buy something for Will as her husband. They'd come so close to not being married, and that had been mostly to do with her, she knew. Will would say that it was because of him, too, that he hadn't paid attention to her the way he should have, but as far as she was concerned, she was the one who'd run from the church that day, so it was her fault. That had all been rectified in the end of course. They were married now, and they couldn't have been happier.

But then that year had seen more than its fair share of heartaches. She remembered how he'd been after that day with the gun. She hadn't been too well herself. She'd thought that would have been the worst of it, that the year was done being difficult on them and the kids at school. And then they'd lost Finn. It had been so hard on Will, and sometimes Emma wasn't sure if he'd seen the boy like a son, or a brother, or himself, or all three. Then he'd lost him, so young, so suddenly. He'd worked so hard to be there for the others, to be strong for them, that finding a way to let his own emotions out had hit him like a ton of bricks.

With her first present safely in the bag she'd brought from home, Emma knew she had to just look at her list and make up her mind. Once she did, there would be nothing to stop her. Of course there was still the mall, the people… So for a couple of hours more, she wandered. When Will called and told her how he needed to go to another store, she was just getting to where she needed to be, and she smiled to herself, telling him to take his time.

His second present had definitely come from the long list she'd compiled. There would be time plenty to get him some of these other things. For now, she'd made up her mind and, just like that, her Christmas shopping was done. She'd taken a seat for a while, then trailed along with Marley Rose and her mother when she'd run into them. By the time Will called her again, she was sitting at the fountain, just watching the people running left and right. He came up to her with a smile.

"All done?" he asked, offering his hand. She kept a good grip on her bag and offered him her free hand.

"All done. Let's get out of here." All in all, the day hadn't been nearly as bad as she'd thought it would be. That didn't mean she wasn't glad it was over, but she was more focused on the prospect of seeing Will discover what she'd gotten him than anything else.

TO BE CONCLUDED (WEDNESDAY)


	4. For Us

**"Christmas Present"**

**4. For Us**

There had been some debate as to when to open their presents, same as they'd had the year before. Will would insist on how he and his parents would open theirs on the night of the twenty-fourth, while Emma said they would do it on the morning of the twenty-fifth. In the end, they'd decided to do the same thing they'd done the year before, which was to open them at midnight.

In the hours leading up to 'the moment of gifts,' they had watched one movie, and then another, although Emma had fallen asleep on the second one. Will had let her sleep, putting his arm around her. He would wake her when the time was right, but until then he could do just fine, sitting on a calm Christmas Eve, with snow in the windows, Miracle on 34th Street on television, and the woman he loved snug in his arms.

At ten to midnight, he'd started whispering at her ear, getting her to slowly but surely wake again.

"What time is it?" she asked, blinking and yawning.

"Almost midnight," he announced.

"Oh," she sat up, fixing up her hair and looking back to him. "How long have I been…"

"Just over an hour," he looked at his watch. "You know we can wait until morning if you'd rather go to bed," he offered.

"No," she shook her head. "No, no, presents first, then bed."

"Alright, sounds good to me," he got up and went to find her first present under the tree. "You first," he insisted. She smiled, taking the small box.

"Thank you."

"You haven't even opened it yet," he laughed.

"Right, I should do that," she started unwrapping it, the same way she unwrapped any present, very cautiously undoing the paper, almost in reverse from when it had been wrapped. With such a small box taking so long, he wondered how much time she would take with the second present, which was well the width of her arms and had required for Will to bind two lengths of wrapping paper together. But finally she had the small box opened, and when she did, she gasped. "Will, they're beautiful," she touched the pair of matching pins.

"I thought they would look great on you, and I know how much you…" The end of his sentence had been forgotten when she'd leaned forward to kiss him.

"I love them, thank you," she bowed her head, as though to say 'now is the time to say it.' "Your turn," she put the box down and went to retrieve a cylinder from under the tree. "I saw this and I couldn't help myself," she explained with a proud sort of smirk.

"Okay?" he chuckled, taking the object, trying to figure it out. He had more of a 'tear it all away' approach to unwrapping, but after he'd seen her cringe the first time she'd ever given him a present, he had always made it a point of being more careful about it.

Soon he understood the shape: the cylinder was to hold a poster, and when he unrolled it, he laughed and nodded. Now he could see what she'd meant by not being able to resist. It was a signed poster of the band Journey.

"I thought since it's always had such a special place with you…"

"You know if I wasn't sure Sue wouldn't make it disappear one day, I'd hang this in my office," he told her, carefully rolling the poster back and putting it into its cylinder, to keep it safe. "Thank you," he kissed her again. "My turn?" he asked, and she nodded, sitting up anxiously.

He knew she'd been wondering what would be under all that paper ever since he'd placed the thing under the tree. He'd lost count of how many times she'd stopped and looked at it on her way past the tree, and it had more or less become his favorite memory of this holiday season.

"Here, let me just put it down here, it might be easier," he placed the large thing on the coffee table. For a minute or so, she just stared at it, like she was trying to figure out how she would unwrap it. Will had taken his camera, discreetly filming her as she did this, knowing if he ever needed a smile, that would do it.

Eventually, after much consideration, she had found her way in, and when she pulled the paper away, in a giant flourish no less, she was properly stunned. "How did you… Wait a second, you were the one who went into my office, I- oh…" she looked like she'd gotten a headache for a moment, but then she laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"I thought Sue must have been in there, and I… I yelled at her, and…" she let out a breath, but then shook the worry away, because she was genuinely amazed, in a good way at the thing now laid out on the coffee table. "I don't think I should bring it in to work either."

He'd gotten the frame from the mall, along with another thing or two. The star of the piece would be all those pamphlets she was so proud of making. He had selected some of those he knew she was particularly proud of, and a few of his personal favorites, too, and he had arranged them like a display. As a whole, it actually looked very nice.

"So you like it?"

"More than like, I just… It's amazing, I love it… Love you," she turned back to him. "Now your turn again, or my turn for you, I…" she got up, picking out the next present and bringing it to him. "I've heard you say so many times about how you wanted to replace something, and well…" she sat back down, handing him the wrapped box. "I hope you like it." He shook his head with a smile. As special Christmases went, it might not have looked that way to most people, but to him, it had been exactly that. And the next one would be, too, and the one after that, and every Christmas he got to spend with her.

"I know I will."

THE END

_**Up next, check out "Christmas Future", a Trinity series story starting tomorrow**_


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